


Golden Boy

by ImGhostProofBaby



Series: Golden Boy [1]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved
Genre: Buzzfeed, bfu, buzzfeed unsolved - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-01 01:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18325607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImGhostProofBaby/pseuds/ImGhostProofBaby
Summary: Something was wrong with Ryan Bergara, Shane could tell. Sometimes he looked normal. Other times his eyes looked a little more gold than brown. His teeth looked a little sharper. His voice sounded a little deeper.Something was wrong with Ryan Bergara.





	1. Chapter 1

Something was wrong with Ryan Bergara, Shane could tell. Sometimes he looked normal. Other times his eyes looked a little more gold than brown. His teeth looked a little sharper. His voice sounded a little deeper.  
Something was wrong with Ryan Bergara.  
It all started with one Unsolved episode.  
"Isn't it weird back then that you could just..pretend to be someone?" Shane asked, leaning back in his chair, glancing at Ryan sitting next to him.  
"You could still do that today," Ryan said. He sounded oddly sure of that.  
"Nah." Shane shook his head. Ryan leaned forward in his chair, elbows on the table.  
"I bet you I could check into a hotel right now and say my name is uh.." He paused. "Ricky Goldsworth."  
The two of them bantered back and forth, laughing and joking about how that would play out. The energy in the room, though, had shifted. It seemed a little darker, though neither of the two men seemed to notice it. Any chill in the room was chalked up to the air conditioner blasting throughout the room to fight off the LA heat.  
When the episode was concluded, Shane stood, nudging the chair against the table with his foot. He began to leave, then stopped and turned to face where he had been sitting. Ryan still sat, eyes focused on the wall in front of him, though they looked a bit glazed and unfocused as if he wasn't focused on any one thing in particular.  
"Ryan?" Shane's voice was hesitant. Usually the shorter half of the Ghoul Boys only acted this way when they were on location. Never in the office.  
Shane took a step forward. "Ryan?"  
When there came no response a second time, Shane knocked on the wood in front of Ryan. Ryan jumped, eyes snapping to look at Shane, who could've sworn Ryan's eyes changed color for a moment. He subtly shook his head, blaming it on a trick of the light.  
"People's eyes don't just change color, Madej," he scolded himself.  
"The episode's over, buddy," he said. "You can go home."  
Ryan tore his gaze away from Shane and slowly took in his surroundings as if he had never been there before.  
"You can go home," Shane repeated, nerves twisting in his stomach. Something was up.  
"Okay," was all Ryan had to say, standing up stiffly and pushing his chair in after him.  
"Your voice sounded weird back there, man," Shane joked, poking Ryan in the shoulder while they walked. "Sudden cold?"  
"Must be," Ryan responded, clearing his throat for emphasis. "Head's killing me, so I wouldn't doubt it."  
"Don't focus so hard on the bullshit theories then."  
"They're not bullshit!"  
"Some of them are."  
Ryan narrowed his eyes at Shane, but there was no anger behind them. They both knew this was all in good fun, not a true argument.  
"Go home," Shane said good-naturedly. "Sleep off that headache of yours."  
"I'll try," Ryan said back. "This one's killer."  
A voice whispered in Ryan's ear, low and soft.  
"Killer."  
He stiffened, pausing his step. "Did you say something, Shane?"  
Shane paused too. "No, why?"  
"No reason, just thought I heard something."  
"Maybe it's a ghost!" Shane's eyes sparkled with the mischief Ryan was familiar with, knowing full well Shane didn't believe in the supernatural.  
"What ghost would want to haunt Buzzfeed?" Ryan asked with a laugh.  
"Doesn't matter to me, they're not real," Shane said with a shrug when they resumed their walking.  
"You'll care when it smashes a coffee mug over that head of yours."  
"A ghost can't hurt me," Shane said confidently. "I'm ghost-proof, baby!"  
That sent Ryan into a fit of laughter, his shoulders shaking as he pushed through the office doors and out into the LA sunshine.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something had definitely been off with Ryan, that was glaringly obvious.

It was no surprise that Shane came home to an empty apartment. His girlfriend, Sara, had gone on a week-long vacation with Ryan's girlfriend and a few other girls working at Buzzfeed. The silence filled in the gaps of his troubled thoughts. Something had definitely been off with Ryan today, that was glaringly obvious. He shivered involuntarily, a chill running up his spine that he knew wasn't just a product of the air conditioner this time.  
He pulled his phone from his pocket, debating whether he should send a text to Ryan to see how he was doing. After a moment he decided against it, pocketing the phone and walking to the fridge for something to eat. Ryan was probably asleep anyway.  
While his food spun in the microwave, he sat down in a chair in his living room, scrolling through various apps to pass the time before he finally opened his texts and shot one to Ryan.  
Shane: how ya feelin buckaroo

*************************************

Ryan stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, fluorescent lighting reflecting in his eyes.  
"Not your eyes," a voice whispered, the same as before.  
"Who's there?" Ryan asked sharply, looking around him. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, and everything was in its place. The whisper had been far too close to be somebody standing in the living room, or even somebody out on the street. That's what Shane would probably try to pin it on, Ryan knew that very well from the nights spent on location.  
When no response came, he narrowed his eyes and turned back to the mirror. Everything seemed to be the same. Black hair, tanned skin, golden-brown eyes.  
Wait.  
Golden-brown?  
His reflection smiled, causing Ryan to screech and stumble backwards against the wall with a thud. The reflection followed his movements.  
"I know for a fact I didn't smile," Ryan murmured to himself, trying to make sense of it. "Or, maybe I did?"  
He shook his head. Nothing was making sense. His head felt like it was full of cotton and his eyelids were heavy, sudden exhaustion weighing him down.  
"I suppose a nap won't kill me," he said out loud, making his way to his bed and kicking off his shoes. He had just closed his eyes when his phone pinged with a text message.  
Shane: how ya feelin buckaroo  
Ryan squinted at the screen, the light almost obnoxiously bright for some reason, despite the brightness being down almost all the way.  
Ryan: like ive got a hangover  
Ryan: no scratch that  
Ryan: i think it's worse  
Shane: nap it off  
Ryan: that's what i was trying to do  
Shane: oh shit  
Shane: sorry  
Shane: sleep well don't let the ghosts get you  
Ryan rolled his eyes, aggravating his headache a little, before rolling over and closing his eyes. Before he drifted into unconsciousness, he swore he could hear a low chuckle.

*************************************

It was good to know Ryan was taking care of himself in whatever state he was currently in, but Shane still couldn’t help but worry. Ryan’s behavior had been anything but natural for him in the normal office. He absentmindedly chewed on his food while he thought.  
“It’s probably just a bad cold or some sort of flu,” he told himself. “Nothing to worry about. Ryan can take care of himself.”  
He flipped on the TV, settling back into his chair, the thought of Ryan drifting away.

*************************************

Ryan’s sleep was plagued with nightmares. He woke up in a cold sweat, his mind replaying the images of silenced guns and blood and screaming.  
He rolled onto his back with a sigh, draping a damp arm over his eyes as he waited for his heartbeat to slow down.  
When the nervous thudding of his heart finally settled into its usual rhythm, Ryan let his arm fall back to the side, turning his head to look at the time. It was about midnight, meaning he had gotten a few good hours of sleep in. As much as he wanted to go back to sleep, his eyes wouldn’t cooperate. Instead, he stood, settling for a shower.  
He hesitated outside of the bathroom door, the memory of the grinning reflection flashing through his head. He frowned and shook it off, walking inside and shutting the door behind him.  
“It was nothing, Ryan,” he scolded, talking down to himself like he was scolding a child.  
He turned on the water, a twinge of something close to nerves swirling in his gut. He was sure he had heard a voice hiss the words “Just nothing” softly underneath the noise of the water.  
It was nothing, Ryan. Just nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you want a song that reminds me very much of the golden boy himself, look up Bastille’s remix of the song Diamonds & Waste


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan isn’t exactly himself when Shane talks to him in the office.

A shower, as it turned out, was exactly what Ryan needed to push the memory of the nightmares out of his head. He let the warm water fall over him, easing his tensed shoulders. Having no energy to really do anything except stand there, he absentmindedly examined his nails. There was dirt stuck underneath most of them. He cleaned them with the nails on his opposite hand.  
“That’s weird,” he muttered to himself. “Dirt’s not usually that red here.”  
It was a rusty sort of red that sort of reminded him of-  
“Blood,” he whispered.  
Where in the holy fuck had blood come from?  
With shaking hands he turned off the water, stepping out and drying himself off before changing into a clean pair of sweats and a T-shirt.  
Turning, he cleared away the fog from the mirror and stared into his own eyes again. Like before, nothing seemed to be out of place, but a sense of unease rested over him.  
A headache was slowly blossoming behind his eyes, more of an annoyance right now than anything that needed immediate attention.  
Ryan flicked off the lights, making his way back to his room and all but tossing himself onto the bed. The initial exhaustion was pressing on his eyelids again, the warmth from the shower relaxing him to the point of being tired again.  
It didn’t help that the headache was growing into more of a pain (both literally and figuratively) than an annoyance. He rubbed his eyes, sighing heavily before looking at the clock. 1 in the morning. A rush of irritation flashed through him, which was a bit startling. That sort of thing wasn’t very in character for him.  
He sat up, considering sending Shane a text saying he was sick and wouldn’t be in tomorrow, but thought better of him, noting the time again.  
Ryan settled back down on the bed, shutting his eyes in the hopes that blocking out all light would lessen the headache. He was asleep before he could find out

********************

Ryan was acting a bit out of character, Shane had noted as soon as the smaller man walked into the office. Ryan was carrying himself with an amount of confidence that was unusual and his face portrayed a look of irritation rather than the usual relaxed happiness Shane was familiar with.  
“How’re you feeling?” Shane asked, putting a hand on Ryan’s shoulder. Ryan flinched, shrugging off the hand and shooting a glare in Shane’s direction before relaxing.  
“Oh. It’s you,” Ryan said. He sounded almost..disgusted.  
“Uh..yep!” Shane wasn’t quite sure how to respond to Ryan’s tone.  
“I’m fine,” Ryan said curtly in response to the earlier question, giving him a cold look over his sunglasses.  
“You sure? Your eyes look-“  
“Normal. They look normal.” Ryan’s eyes narrowed, fixated on Shane’s with an almost angry intensity.

“Normal” was the last word Shane would’ve used to describe Ryan right now.  
“I just want to make sure you’re feeling better,” Shane said, voice quiet. Ryan’s gaze softened.  
“I’m just tired,” he sighed. “Don’t worry about it.”  
With this strange outburst and all the other oddities going on, how was Shane not supposed to worry?

“Okay,” is what Shane responded with. Nothing more, nothing less. Nothing could express the strange, uneasy feeling he was experiencing, so he wasn’t going to try and put it into words.  
“We’ve got work to do, then, let’s go,” Ryan said, snapping Shane back into reality. Remembrance clicked in Shane’s head- they had a post-mortem to film today.  
“You sure you’re feeling up to it?” he asked.  
“Gotta keep to the schedule,” Ryan replied. “I’ll survive.”  
Shane just hoped that with the strangeness surrounding Ryan’s tone that Shane, too, would make it out of this alive. The Ryan he had talked to before was different. His eyes were cold and calculating, his tone sharp with a sort of commanding air. And the strangest part? Shane could’ve sworn that behind Ryan’s sunglasses he saw a flash of gold.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Since when does he call me Long-legs?”

The episode, as hoped, went smoothly. Shane noticed no major difference in the way Ryan was acting in front of the camera compared to how he usually acted.  
"He probably _is_ just tired," Shane thought, comparing Ryan's behavior from now to earlier. Ryan did look pretty tired, if Shane was being completely honest. Whether or not Ryan had actually slept was a mystery to the taller Ghoul Boy. It certainly didn't look like it.  
"What're you staring at?" Ryan's voice cut into his thoughts, his tone much sharper than before.  
"A ghost," Shane joked. "He's creeping up behind you."  
Any other day, Ryan would've not-so-subtly threw a look over his shoulder to make sure Shane was definitely just joking. Today, all he did was laugh. The unnaturality of the sound sent a chill up Shane's spine.  
The laugh stopped abruptly. "Alright, Long-legs, let's go. We've got editing to do." Ryan stood, pushing in his chair with perhaps more force than necessary.  
"Long-legs?" Shane asked himself, trailing behind Ryan. "Since when does he call me Long-legs?"  
Sure, Ryan had made plenty of tall jokes in the past, such as seeing eye to eye with the eight-foot Mothman statue, but tall-based-nicknames were new.

***********************************

  
[Time skip: 2 weeks]

The days at the office seemed far longer than usual, but Shane and Ryan were finally able to be sitting at a bar sharing after work drinks to celebrate another season well-made. Ryan, usually the life of the party, was silent, his gaze flickering over the other patrons. Every once in a while he'd stop, a small smirk playing up on his face. Ryan had been acting strange on and off for weeks now. It never affected the episodes in any way, although when Ryan did his Ricky Goldsworth skits, he seemed to get very into the part. It was, in a sense, almost eerily well-performed.

"I think I'm gonna head out," Ryan said after a while, scribbling his signature onto the check for his drinks.

  
"Need me to drive you home?" Shane had really only been nursing a water since they had arrived, whereas Ryan had had a couple of beers.

  
"That would be great, thanks," Ryan answered. "Headache's back."

“You should really get those checked out, man,” Shane suggested. Ryan waved off the advice with a flick of his hand.

“It’s just headaches,” he said. “I’m a grown boy, I can handle it.”

“Grown?” Shane raised his eyebrows. “I don’t know if you would be considered grown.”

“Excuse you, I’m average height.”

“Are you thinking about the average for toddlers or the average for adults?”

It was friendly banter. Shane loved Ryan like a brother, and he knew the feeling was mutual.

Ryan rolled his eyes then shut them with a grimace, exhaling slowly through his mouth.

“You okay?” Shane asked, suddenly worried.

“Nausea,” Ryan responded, only moments before his legs gave out and he collapsed into the concrete.


	5. Chapter 5

Usually one wouldn’t expect somebody who just collapsed to pick themselves up almost right away, but that’s exactly what Shane watched Ryan do.

”Fuck, that hurt,” Ryan groaned, stretching his arms gingerly and inspecting himself for injuries.

”Ryan, are you okay?!” Shane stared down at Ryan, worry coursing through his veins. Ryan’s head snapped up to look at Shane as if he had forgotten Shane was there.

”Oh, it’s you.” There it was again. The same thing Ryan had said earlier.

”Yeah, it’s me, buddy,” Shane said. “Shane Madej, you know, your friend?”

”I’d consider you _Ryan’s_ friend, Long-legs, but not mine.”

“You must’ve hit your head or something, Ryan-“

”Do I look like Bergara to you?”

Golden eyes flashed under the light of the street lamps. A twisted smile complimented a chilling laugh.

”Yes,” Shane said, then paused. “Yes and no.”

”Make up your mind. Yes or no?”

”Who the fuck are you?” Shane was starting to get angry now.

”I’m me, baby!” Not-Quite-Ryan said in sort of an imitation of Shane.

”But you,” he continued, “can call me Goldsworth.”

”Ricky Goldsworth,” Shane whispered. 

“ _Only_ Goldsworth,” was barked in reply. “There was one man who was allowed to call me Ricky, and he’s not you. He’s gone now.”

Against his better judgement, Shane asked, “What happened to him?”

”Killed him,” Goldsworth said nonchalantly, shrugging as if murdering somebody was no big deal. Shane’s blood ran cold.

”What-“

”As much as I’d love to explain, I wouldn’t,” Goldsworth chuckled. “I’ve got places to be, people to see. Sayonara, Long-legs.”

With that, the short imposter sprinted off into the darkness, disappearing around a corner. Had Shane not been frozen to the spot with shock, he would have followed to stop Goldsworth.

”How the hell am I going to get Ryan back?” he whispered to himself. A second though entered his mind.

”Ghosts are real??” He was louder in talking to himself this time. “Or, demons, at least.”

Shane leaned against the wall of a building and slowly sank to the ground, staring straight forward at the road, trying to process everything that had just happened.

 

*******************

 

When Ryan came to the next day, he was laying on a couch instead of in his bed.

Carefully he sat up, rubbing his head in a futile attempt to calm the raging hangover headache burning through his skull.

”Don’t push yourself, you took a tumble last night,” a voice said quietly from behind him. Ryan turned to match a face to the voice and was met with a worried looking Shane.

”Where am I?” Ryan asked groggily.

”You’re in my apartment,” Shane answered, setting a cup of water and some aspirin on the coffee table in front of Ryan.

”How much do you remember?” Shane continued with a question.

”I remember..leaving the bar and feeling sick, but nothing else,” Ryan answered slowly, honestly. “What happened?”

”You collapsed. I took you back here since it was closer than your apartment.”

”Oh.” Ryan could sense something was odd, as if Shane wasn’t telling him the full truth, but he didn’t feel well enough to push the topic.

Hands shaking, he took the aspirin and drained the rest of the water.

”If you wanna shower, you know where the bathroom is,” Shane said, sitting down at the kitchen table. “You’re probably gonna have to wear something of mine if you can find anything that fits, unless you plan on staying in what you’re wearing.”

Ryan’s clothes felt, to put it lightly, absolutely gross. He was sweating and just overall felt strongly like he needed a shower.

”Okay,” he said, standing with care. “Thanks.”

”Of course, Ryan.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s not his, it’s not his, it’s not his.

How the fuck was Shane supposed to explain to Ryan that Shane found him after hours of searching in some back alley, slumped against a wall with a grin on his face and a knife in his hand, face and clothes splattered with blood Shane was praying wasn’t Ryan’s.

”Don’t worry,” Goldsworth has said. “It’s not his.”

 _It’s_ _not_ _his_ , _it’s_ _not_ _his_ , _it’s_ _not_ _his_.

”What did you do?” was all Shane could say in reply.

”Took care of an overdue favor.” There was that grin again, wider this time. “Long, Long overdue.”

How was Shane supposed to explain the twisted “I’ll see you again soon” that came out of Ryan’s mouth, even though it wasn’t really Ryan that said it before gold eyes rolled back into a tanned head.

How would he put into words the feeling of dread he carried as he loaded Ryan’s limp body into the passenger side of Shane’s car before driving them back to the apartment.

The good news? Ryan at the very least probably wouldn’t have to worry about the police on his tail for the murder Goldsworth probably committed last night. He wouldn’t be caught.

Goldsworth never gets caught.

Shane watched the back of his friend as Ryan practically stumbled into the bathroom. In any logical book and/or movie, Shane would be coming up with ways to rid the world of the one and only Ricky Goldsworth, but instead, his mind was racing with other thoughts.

Ryan was very capable of taking care of himself, Shane knew, but at the same time Shane enjoyed acting almost as an older brother to Ryan. Sure, he was always ready to drop a short joke on Ryan, but he was equally ready to defend Ryan in any situation. Unless it was about ghosts being real.

”I guess I’m sort of obligated to defend him on that, now, too,” Shane grumbled to himself. He shook his head, clearing the thought. Now was not the time to be salty over evidence of the supernatural. Now was the time to figure out how the fuck he was gonna get Ricky out of Ryan’s body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short update to give a bit of shane’s POV


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ”What if I told you you wouldn’t have to hurt either of us to get rid of me?”

Weeks passed as Shane had to make up more and more lies as to why Ryan was missing bits of his memories. Memories, of course, destroyed so Goldsworth could be in charge.

It was becoming exhausting.

All in all, the killer’s death toll had to have been at least up to a dozen or more. Shane couldn’t exactly go to the police—there would be too much evidence toward him harboring said criminal and not enough towards Goldsworth actually having committed said crimes. Shane, frankly, thought it was complete bullshit.

Strangely, though, Goldsworth was kind enough not to take over while Ryan was around his or Shane’s girlfriend, or in the office when in front of others. It was almost as if Goldsworth cared about Ryan’s reputation with people.

People other than Shane, of course.

”You know,” Goldsworth said, cutting into Shane’s thoughts as the killer spun around slowly, upside down on a rolling chair in Shane’s apartment, “I would’ve thought you’re possessed, too. No human being could come up with something as..off-putting as the Hot Saga.”

”Hot Daga,” Shane corrected. “And for your information, it is critically acclaimed and adored by every single viewer.”

Goldsworth stopped his spinning. “ _Every_ single viewer?”

Shane gave a nod. “Every one of them.”

Goldsworth barked out a laugh, startling Shane. It was so different from Ryan’s.

”Whatever you say, Long-legs.”

”You are such an asshole,” Shane mumbled, rolling his eyes. With Ryan, this would be an easy-going conversation, more banter than anything. With Goldsworth, though, it wasn’t hard to tell that he was saying that stuff to be a dick.

”If I’m such an asshole, why haven’t you gotten rid of me yet?” Goldsworth asked with a grin.

”Hurting you would hurt Ryan. I don’t want to do that.”

”What if I told you you wouldn’t have to hurt either of us to get rid of me?”

That immediately got Shane’s attention. “What do you mean?”

“I know a guy.” Goldsworth shrugged, adjusting himself on the chair so that he was upright.

”Oh, very specific,” Shane said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

”Do you want my help or not?” Somehow, the question was more ominous in Goldsworth’s calm tone than if it had been spat.

”Depends. What is this guy of yours gonna do?”

”How much do you value your soul?”

It was a sudden question, and one Shane most definitely wasn’t anticipating being part of the conversation.

”How much do I- What?” Shane wasn’t exactly sure how to respond to that.

”How much. Do you value. Your soul?” Goldsworth spoke slowly for Shane, as if he was a child.

“If I could keep it I would, I guess?!”

”What if I told you,” Goldsworth began, lowering his voice, “you could save Ryan’s soul in exchange for your own?”


	8. Chapter 8

Shane’s soul for Ryan’s. What did that entail, exactly?

Shane paced the LA sidewalks, staring down at the concrete in front of him. Goldsworth had given him a week to think it over, never pressing Shane for an answer when Goldsworth showed up to “take care of some business,” as he put it.

That week had gone by far too quickly.

Shane looked at the crumpled piece of paper in his hand, an address scrawled messily in black pen. The address where he was supposed to meet Goldsworth in—he checked his watch—15 minutes with an answer.

He had 15 minutes to decided whether he would stop a murderer and get his friend’s soul back in exchange for his own soul.

Well, 14 now.

Too fast, 14 became 10. 10 became 5, and 5 became 0.

Shane knocked on the crumbling building’s door, brushing paint chips off his knuckles. Almost immediately it swung open, revealing a grinning Goldsworth in a blood-flecked dress shirt.

”Welcome to my humble abode, Long-legs,” he said, sweeping his arm backwards as an invitation for Shane to enter.

”I presume you’ve made your decision?” Goldsworth asked, walking to the sink to scrub blood out from under his nails.

”I..” Shane trailed off, barely even beginning the sentence. 

“Do you want your friend back, Madej?” Goldsworth asked, voice softening.

”I do,” Shane answered without hesitation.

”Well, then you’ve already made your decision, haven’t you?”

”This is asking a lot, though..”

”You know you wouldn’t die, yes?”

Shane looked at Goldsworth quizzically. “I did not”

”Even better! You’d be a demon.” Goldsworth grinned again. “Just like me.”

”Would I..get to keep this body at least? I mean, I have a job, a girlfriend-“

”Yes, you get to keep the body if you want to,” Goldsworth cut him off.

”Obviously I want to,” Shane snapped. “Otherwise Ryan will..know.”

”Know you’re a demon?”

”The thing he absolutely hates most, yes.”

”Sucks to be you,” Goldsworth said with a shrug. “Now, deal or no deal.”

Shane looked down at himself.

Human.

Was he truly willing to give up that part of himself if it meant saving Ryan from a charming asshole of a serial killer?

He took a deep breath, and held out his hand for Goldsworth to shake.

”Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y’all enjoyed! Do be on the look out for the sequel which will be coming very shortly!

**Author's Note:**

> This work can also be found on my Wattpad here:  
> https://my.w.tt/3fccX2rFyV


End file.
